WELCOME to DESS DAHASRY of MALAYSIA..

Monday, October 10, 2011

"What? Crazy... They are not the ones who are learning. We are. We are starting to get used to English terms. And now what? We have to learn all over again? Stupid laa...."

Those are the exact words that came out from my daughter's mouth when I mentioned to her that the PPSMI will be abolished next year, and that she has to learn Science and Maths in Malay next year in Form 4....
My daughter is, or rather was, the first batch of Year 1 students that started learning Maths and Science in English (PPSMI) in 2003, initiated by former Prime Minister, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad. She had just completed her PMR exams, the last paper finishing at 3.45pm just now... I told her the government's decision to have Maths and Science subjects in Malay beginning next year and that was what she said (above) instantly. She was aware of the latest news that the PPSMI was going to be abolished but she was not aware that it was going to affect her next year. She initially thought that year one and form one next year will take effect.
Those are the grieves and groans of students in Malaysia who will be affected by the sudden twist made by the Education Ministry to have Maths and Science taught in Malay beginning next year, 2012. The Ministry does not care about the 9 years (2003-2011) that this batch of students had gone through learning Maths and Science in English from year 1 to Form 3. Next year, in Form 4 and then in Form 5, they will learn all related Maths and Science subjects in Malay. After taking their SPM in 2013, they will then learn Maths and Science in English at their tertiary education level. Funny !!! It doesn't make sense !!!

In the newspaper today, The Star.

Teachers must cope with language switch

ACCORDING to the Education Ministry, during the implementation of the teaching of Science and Mathematics in English (PPSMI), 4% of Mathematics and Science teachers used 90% or more of English in the teaching of the two subjects (“Why PPSMI is abolished” – The Star, Oct 5).

The majority of the teachers used a mixture of Bahasa Malaysia and English and more often than not the teachers had to switch to Bahasa Malaysia because the students could not understand the lessons in English.

I disagree, because such challenges during the implementation of PPSMI were expected. The issue was most probably not because of the students but more so the teachers. Most of the teachers since the 1970s were products of the Malay-medium education system.

The teachers themselves had to cope with the language switch. We must realise that the first batch of students who sat for the STPM with Science and Mathematics in English was in 2004 and the first batch of such SPM students was in 2007.

Some of them would have by now graduated as Science and Mathematics teachers along with many others. They would most probably be more conversant with teaching the two subjects in English.

We should not underestimate the capability and ability of the students in learning Science and Mathematics in English irrespective of their ethnic background or their mother tongue.

Many of us who went to English-medium schools were not so fortunate as to have a pre-school education, which is the norm nowadays. We did not know any English nor the letters of the alphabet.

Our teachers totally used the English language. We did not know simple words like “Good morning”, “Please”, “Thank you”, but we were able to master the English language. If this can be done in the 1960s, what is stopping us in the 21st Century?

During the initial stages of PPSMI, the previous Education Minister used to announce encouraging results in the SPM and STPM with regard to Science and Mathematics.

The pioneer batch of PPSMI have just sat for the PMR and will be taking the SPM in 2013. The right thing to do is for this batch and future batches to go through the full cycle of PPSMI to gauge its effectiveness before coming to a conclusion.

Many of us who support PPSMI are not asking for English-medium schools. We only want Science and Mathematics to continue to be taught in English or at the least be given as an option.

We still want our children to be taught in Bahasa Malaysia for the other subjects. We believe that the national schools are the schools of choice for our children as rightly pointed out in “PPSMI is right policy” (The Star, Oct 8) that children of various races can mix in national schools.

LEE CHENG POH,Penang.

Some comments in my Facebook:

There you are... How can the Ministry keep a deaf ear all this while? Hmm....... Politics in Education...You , yes you !! Out there.. Don't wait.. Make your voice and opinion be counted.Make your stand. We are talking about our future generation here...

ABOUT ME

Simple man. Educationist, Writer, Keyboardist,Composer and Arranger, Qualified Track and Field Coach, Golfer and coach, occasionally give talks on motivation and mathematics.
Like to share facts and experience in the Teaching & Coaching profession.
I love SPORTS a lot.